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WITCHCRAFT, HUMANISM, AND OTHER RELIGIONS ARE FILLING THE SPIRITUAL VOID LEFT BY THE CHURCH A dramatic spiritual paradigm shift is taking place in the Western world. More Americans than ever before appear to be turning away from the Christian faith, and this is particularly true among the young people. And while it is undeniable that atheism and agnosticism are both growing rapidly, it is also important to point out that other faiths are on the rise in the Western world at the exact same time that Christianity is shrinking. Let's start with witchcraft. It has been estimated that Wicca (one very popular form of witchcraft) is now the fastest growing faith in America. Books and movies featuring Harry Potter and others that use "magic" for good have fuelled a tremendous amount of interest in the dark arts these days. In Brooklyn, Witches of Bushwick has evolved from a venue on the underground party circuit to a social collective that celebrates witchcraft as a femi-nist art and collaborates with fashion companies like Chromat. We are also witnessing a huge increase in the number of atheists and agnostics in the Western world. Europe is much farther along than the United States in this regard, and many areas of the Continent are rightly regarded to be "post-Christian" at this point. In the UK, the Christian faith has declined so dramatically that now we are seeing the rise of "humanist chaplains" that don't hold to any sort of faith at all... MOCK HUMAN SACRIFICE WAS JUST CONDUCTED AT CERN Have you seen the video of the "mock human sacrifice" that was conducted right outside the entrance of CERN? A spokes-woman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (more commonly known as CERN) has told the public that this ritual happened without their permission and that they are looking into the matter. There were eight people in black robes and one woman involved in this mock human sacrifice. The fact that the eight shrouded individuals were wearing black robes means that someone definitely wanted this to look like an occult ritual. This ritual was conducted directly next to the statue of the Hindu god Shiva that stands at the entrance to CERN. In Hindu lore, Shiva is the "god of destruction", and this spot was obviously purposely chosen. During the ritual, a woman walks into the middle of the group, disrobes, and willingly lies on the ground. Subsequently, one of the individuals in black robes pulls out what looks like a knife and brings it down in a stabbing motion toward the woman. After that, the video quickly ends. IS DRONE SWARM TECHNOLOGY (LOCUST) A HARBINGER OF REVELATION 9?  Drone swarms are about to change the face of modern warfare and some prophecy watchers find both the tech-nology and name of the U.S. Naval program behind it perhaps more than coincidence. The U.S. Navy recently demon-strated its Low-Cost UAV Swarming Technology (LOCUST) program by putting 30 drones flying together in perfect forma-tion. These drones are launched from a special tube in less than a minute to create a vicious swarm designed to overwhelm an adversary autonomously. What makes the swarm unique is that any hostile aircraft, manned or unmanned, can be brought down by a single missile, but a swarm can take multiple hits and keep going. The drones are self-reconfiguring so that if one drone gets taken out, the others autono-mously change their behaviour to complete the mission. Several test simulations by the Navy have shown that drone swarms are consistently able to get past ship defenses that are geared towards shooting down single planes. This weakness means it makes sense to attack an enemy ship with a large number of cheap drones rather than one missile costing the same. Ironically, the best counter to drone swarm attacks being studied is a defensive drone swarm that can intercept the offensive ones. The aim is to have thirty or more drones flying together without having to be individually con-trolled, maintaining separation safely like a flock of birds. They are different from any other drone in that the operator does not control an individual aircraft, but pilots the whole swarm as a single unit. With manned aircraft and ships, the pilot's life counts for a lot; but swarming drones are expendable and high "casualties" do not matter as much. This is a very different world to the dogfights that, historically, have made up modern warfare and could dras-tically alter the course of air warfare forever. Some prophecy watchers find it interesting that the Bible descri-bes "locust" type creatures that play a significant role in end-time conflict. Read Revelation 9. The revelations were given to John about 2 000 years ago when there would have been no way for him properly to describe 21st-century technological inventions that would follow many centuries later. Is it possible that John was describing some type of techno-logy in our day similar to the LOCUST programme? FRANCE: CHURCHES ARE EMPTY The slaughter of French priest Father Jacques Hamel on July 26 in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray was significant. The church where Father Jacques Hamel was saying mass was nearly empty. Five people were present; three nuns and two faithful. Most of the time, French churches are empty. Christianity in France is dying out. Jacques Hamel was almost 86 years old; despite his age, he did not want to retire. He knew it would be difficult to find someone to replace him. "CHRISTIANS" DON'T GO TO CHURCH ANYMORE" Though the vast majority (78%) of Americans identify themselves as Christians, they have largely stopped attending church. LESS THAN 20% of the population now makes it to church in a typical week. Some 4 000 churches are closing every year and half of all churches in the U.S. did not add any new members to their ranks in the last two years. WHY PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THE FAITH OF THEIR CHILDHOOD An important new survey by Pew Research asks why people who were raised in religious homes but who now identify as religious "nones" - having no religious affiliation - decided to leave the faith of their childhood. The results were varied, but according to the survey, "Half of 'nones' left childhood faith over lack of belief", one-in-five cited "dislike of organized religion." Of these, half of them who say they no longer believe, mention 'science' as the reason they do not believe in religious teachings while others reference 'common sense,' 'logic' or a 'lack of evidence' - or simply say they do not believe in God. WHY ARE THE PULPITS SILENT ON BIBLE PROPHECY? What incredible times we live in - like no previous generation! The world is heading for a conclusion, though nobody knows the timing on this. But we are privileged to look at signs that are like clouds forming on the horizon. In the 1970s there were only a few events that were prophecy-related happenings. Fast forward to today and there are so many prophecy-related events hap-pening daily and hourly that it presents a major dilemma for those of us watching the signs of the times to know just where to focus. The Bible asks us to be "watch-men" (Ezekiel 33). We're to be sounding an alarm. Trouble is ahead! Time is short! And I have never felt such a sense of urgency and the realization that time is, indeed, short. I am watching signs "converge." They are stunning and breathtaking. But most preachers will not talk about them! Pastor Tom Hughes leads The 412 Church in San Jacinto, California. He has written a thoughtful article titled, "Five Reasons Pastors Don't Teach Bible Prophecy." He writes, "Prophecy fills the Bible. End-time prophecy touches every person alive today. Jesus taught on it. So did John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude. Yet only a small percentage of churches teach this crucial part of God's message to our generation." Hughes continues, "That's not how Jesus saw it. He reprimanded the Pharisees and Sadducees for not discerning the times. 'When it is evening you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times' (Matthew 16:2-3 NKJV)." Hughes concludes, "More than a quarter of the Bible is prophecy - much of it yet to be fulfilled. How can we give congregations a well-rounded understanding of Scripture if we leave out such a vital part of it?" He then goes on to list five reasons preachers may not be sharing these issues in the pulpit: 1) They don't understand prophecy. 2) They fear offending members of the church. 3) They sense this will scare people. 4) People might not tithe if they think we're close to the end. 5) There is fear in looking like the "loony-tune fringe". The prophecies of the first coming of Christ were fulfilled. They stand as evidence that the Bible can be trusted. Prophecies of His second coming work the same way, except we get to witness these events in our time, often with our own eyes! The nations of the world seem moved, as though by a hidden hand, into exactly the right positions on a global chess board. What an amazing thing to see it happening before our eyes! It builds faith and draws our attention God-ward. We have the good news of the ultimate hope - the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) His glorious appearing! Pastors, please don't remain silent! Read more at: http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/ article.cfm?recent_news_id=583#uYKK3qEtP1dSrfq8.99
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